Up until today, I could at least say that for all its faults (and it is truly a politically poisonous trainwreck in every way), at least the Senate bill didn’t screw women over as badly as the House bill. Well, so much for that:

Mr. Reid’s amendment includes tighter restrictions on insurance coverage for abortions sought by Mr. Nelson. Health insurance plans would not be required or forbidden to cover abortions, but states could prohibit the coverage of abortions by plans that are offered for sale through new government-regulated marketplaces.

The amendment also includes a special extension solely for Nebraska: increased federal contributions to the cost of an expansion

The previous language about segregating private vs public funds within the exchanges is reportedly tougher on women. We’re still reading the details, but from what we’ve seen, this is the general framework:

So . . .

1. The Feds will require you to purchase insurance

2. Feds say this is fair because we’ve got these nifty exchanges that will magically transform the currently concentrated insurance markets and make them competitive, affordable [not possible].

3. Only these exchange plans will have any significant federal enforcement for even the weak insurance regulations and price oversight.

4. States may ban abortions for all plans in the exchange, so women are not only stripped of current rights but left completely unprotected.